TEAM Tioga, along with all six Tioga County School Districts, Tioga County Department of Social Services (DSS), and Family Enrichment Network (FEN), partnered to assess child care needs in Tioga County, New York. As part of this initiative, a ten-minute survey was distributed to parents, caregivers and employers. Nearly three-hundred responses were received.
Data from the survey indicates that 54% of respondents are currently facing gaps in child care coverage for the 2020-2021 school year. Top challenges related to finding child care include the cost of care, scheduling care to match guardian’s work schedule, finding dependable care, and the potential impact of COVID-19 on an existing caregiver. Data from the survey indicates that nearly 80% of households in Tioga County rely on some form of home-based care – whether provided by a parent, family member or non-relative – however, the majority of respondents are actually actively searching for center-based child care.
Additionally, one of the most immediate needs for parents and guardians is before and after school child care. According to Brittany Woodburn, Deputy Director for Tioga County Economic Development and Planning, “54 survey respondents indicated that they were struggling to find before and after school care for nearly 90 children. This issue likely resonates on a much largerscale across the county.”
TEAM Tioga is continuing to take proactive actions to help address this issue. “We’ve reached out to the school aged child care programs in each of the school districts,” continued Woodburn, “and are opening conversations about the status of each program, and trying to learn more about any challenges or obstacles they are currently facing that may prevent them from reopening for the 2020-2021 school year, such as budgetary gaps, staffing, transportation, PPE, etc. This hands-on approach has allowed us to search for concrete individualized solutions for programs that may be in need.”
Christine Benjamin, Director of PlayYard Concepts, Inc. is one example of how this hands-on approach has been successful in addressing child care issues in Tioga County. According to Benjamin, “PlayYard Concepts has provided before and after school care for children in the Apalachin community for nearly 20 years. Due to circumstances resulting from COVID-19, we were facing a budget gap that would prevent us from opening this year. TEAM Tioga proactively helped us identify and apply for funding via the Community Foundation for South Central NY, a local foundation that supports not-for-profits organizations like PlayYard. We are pleased to announce that the funding we received from the CFSCNY COVID-19 Response Fund will allow us to reopen for the 2020-2021 school year on October 5th, so that we can continue to serve the children and families of the Apalachin Community.”
The survey also has re-opened conversations regarding the need for additional center-based child care and pre-Kindergarten programs in Tioga County. Tioga County has a total of 20 providers licensed by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) available to serve children in Tioga County School Districts. Pre-COVID-19, the OCFS-licensed facilities that serve Tioga Country School Districts could accommodate no more than 584 children. This means that at any given time, outside of schools, there are OCFS-licensed child care slots available for no more than 6.86% of the total population of children under the age of 14 in Tioga County Districts.
According to Dr. Elizabeth Carter, President of Catholic Schools of Broome County, “The results of the Tioga County Child Care Needs Assessment highlights the same needs we have heard echoed by local industry partners in both Tioga and Broome counties for pre-kindergarten programs, and has allowed us to initiate conversations with local partners about how the Catholic Schools of Broome County may be able to help partner and address these needs within the community.”
Gaps in the availability of child care and remote work policies were also identified as significant challenges for respondents. The survey results highlighted the benefits of proactively implementing remote work policies. For example, respondents who worked for employers with established work from-home policies were generally better prepared to manage child care needs and less concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the financial stability of their households. Policies and procedures designed to support the workforce may be used as a model throughout Tioga County.
TEAM Tioga, together with DSS and FEN, have identified both immediate and longer-term strategic actions, and have initiated implementation of these actions. Establishment of a Child Care Task Force is a critical next step.
Jennifer Perney, Child Care Resource and Referral Director at FEN states, “As the local Child Care Resource and Referral Agency, we are not at all surprised by the findings of the Tioga County Child Care Needs Assessment. There has been a shortage of child care in Tioga County for years and the COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced the problem and brought it to the forefront of the community. I look forward to working with the Child Care Task Force to address the child care needs for the community.”
According to Shawn Yetter, Commissioner of the Tioga County Department of Social Services, “The availability of accessible and safe child care services are fundamental in allowing families to maintain daily stability in their households and achieve continued self-sufficiency. This has been magnified throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.”
An overview of the results of the survey can be viewed at the link below:
https://tiogacountyny.com/media/8668/tioga-county-childcare-needs-report.pdf For more information, please contact Abbey Hendrickson, Tioga County Economic Development & Planning Community Development Specialist, at (607) 687-8266 or [email protected] .
